Quality Relationships Alliance Inc, Mandurah WA
Stronger Families Learning Exchange Bulletin No.5 Autumn 2004 pp.40-41
First glimpse - project responses to a series of questions
The project setting
Quality Relationships Alliance Inc. is a new Mandurah organisation; supported by the City of Mandurah and developed by an alliance of community individuals, organisations and groups who came together in a community can do spirit to develop strategies to enable individuals and families in Mandurah to improve the quality of their relationships at home, in the workplace and within the wider community.
The City of Mandurah is located 72 kms South of Perth Western Australia and is known for its sparkling waterways and is the fastest growing regional centre in WA and the gateway to the South West.
Why is the project needed?
This project is needed for a number of reasons that are not mutually exclusive but are intrinsically connected and interwoven. These include the high levels of marriage breakdown experienced by families, the lack of community networks and isolation, burn out among human service providers and a general lack of knowledge of relationship issues.
What are you trying to do in this project?
Quality Relationships Alliance believes that the building blocks of a strong and connected community depend on the quality of relationships. The long term goal for QRA is to have a well connected city where people feel valued and have many quality relationships. Not just a quality relationship between you and your neighbours, but quality relationships within your home - with your partner, your children, your parents or other family and friends; quality relationship with yourself, quality relationships within the workplace, and quality relationships between service providers and between service providers and clients.
QRA believe:
- It is Quality Relationships that are the vital building blocks of strong, healthy and enjoyable communities.
- Strong communities have networks that protect vulnerable people and create opportunities for people to participate more fully in work and community life.
- All people in our community deserve the opportunity to strengthen their relationships, regardless of age, income, gender, race or creed.
- Investments in building Quality Relationships in families, schools, workplace and the wider community are investments in the future of our community and our nation.
- Any community strategy aimed at the strengthening of relationships will require services aimed at prevention, early intervention and education as well as services that can assist the individual or family in crisis.
How are you going about it?
QRA will develop strategies to enable individuals and families in Mandurah to improve the quality of their relationships at home, in the workplace and within the wider community. This will be achieved by promoting quality, relationships, enhancing community networks, and providing lifelong education, training and development opportunities for individuals, human service providers and community groups. QRA have developed 4 interlocking strategies to achieve this:
- Provision of networking, support and training for Human Service Providers. This will be achieved through regular network meetings, linking workers with others for debriefing, supervision and professional development, establishing a resource center and database of human relationship services in Mandurah.
- Raising public awareness of the value of quality relationships. This will be achieved through developing a public relations strategy that raises community awareness and promotes services.
- Mobilising partners and volunteers. This will be achieved through recruiting and training volunteers to provide support and information on local relationship resources.
- The provision of practical proactive preventative relationship educational services that the community wants and values. This will be achieved through coordinating and promoting lifelong learning relationship education across the lifes cycle in collaboration with other agencies, whilst ensuring there is adequate feedback from the community that the relationship education meets the community's need.
